SIGHT SAVERS AMERICA, INC.

SSA's overall goal is to provide children in need of eye care, low vision services, and health/vision screenings with the resources needed to address vision and health needs. Through our Eye Care Program, we aim to ensure that over 75% of children referred to SSA achieve their best possible vision. Through our Low Vision Program, our goal is to eradicate the backlog of children in need of high-tech vision aids, such as Electronic Video Magnifiers, within our service area. (Once this goal is met, we then transition to the program's maintenance phase, which serves a smaller number of children who age into the program, move into the area, or develop new or worsening eye conditions.) The goal of our Vision and Health Screening Programs is to identify health/vision needs in the neediest areas of our state (and select communities outside of Alabama), while also securing the necessary follow-up treatments.

SSA operates four programs that fulfill its mission and consistently meet organizational goals: the Eye Care Program, Low Vision Program, Vision Screening Program, and Health Screening Program. These programs proactively identify vision and health problems and then work with each child individually to ensure that he or she actually receives the necessary follow-up care. The Eye Care Program provides comprehensive follow-up eye care for children failing a vision screening to ensure that children actually receive all recommended treatments after a failed vision screening. Personal case management of eye care is the program's main strategy for success, as SSA Case Specialists build a relationship with each child's family, and work to establish a eye care home for each child referred. The Low Vision Program is making great strides serving the needs of children with severe visual impairment in 13 states by providing high-tech vision aids, such as Electronic Video Magnifiers, that are life-changing for a severely visually impaired child. In many areas where we serve, we have successfully met our goal of eliminating the backlog of children with this need and have transitioned to the program's maintenance phase. Strategies for accomplishing this include aggressive fundraising, numerous community partnerships across the US, and a thorough case management process. The Vision Screening Program uses a state-of-the-art Plusoptix vision screening device to quickly and effectively identify vision issues. This device captures refraction data in less than one second, and screens for many issues not detected by a traditional eye chart screening. Additionally, the Health Screening Program serves the state of Alabama by providing head-to-toe health screenings for children in underserved urban and rural areas of our state. This program strategically leverages volunteer support from local nursing schools to administer health screenings and provide early detection of critical health issues in a cost-efficient manner.

Sight Savers America celebrated its 20th year of providing eye care services for needy children in 2017. SSA is the only organization that proactively provides these comprehensive follow-up eye care services on a large, multi-state scale. SSA operates with an active Board of Trustees and a staff of 38, including trained Case Specialists that follow a detailed case management protocol from start to finish. Program activities and results are tracked using a custom CRM database that traces each child since SSA's inception. This unique case management protocol ensures that every child within our service area has the opportunity to receive the eye care necessary to succeed in school and in life, putting an end to the cycle of neglected eye care among children within our service area.

SSA was awarded the American Optometric Association's “Distinguished Service Award" for outstanding service and dedication to the visual welfare of the public and for contributions to the advancement of vision rehabilitation care, the most prestigious national award for vision rehabilitation. The “Robert Sherrill Quality Award" was also presented to Jeff Haddox, Founder, by the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation, recognizing him as a healthcare leader in the state. Johnson & Johnson also awarded SSA its National “Community Health Care Crystal Award" for community service in recognition of unique and innovative solutions to complicated children's health care challenges.

Over the course of 20 years, Sight Savers America has created a roadmap in children's eye care unlike any other in existence today, and has reached over 600,000 children through its Eye Care Program alone. Through SSA's efficient case management system, results show that over 85% of children referred to our programs achieve their best possible vision. Furthermore, the Low Vision Program has successfully eliminated the need for high-tech vision aids for children in many areas and communities where the program serves. This includes the entire state of Alabama, the large majority of Mississippi and Louisiana, the San Antonio Metro area, and the 10 Texas Hill Country counties, where we have served all children with this specific need. SSA's Health Screening Program is often the only head-to-toe health screening that many Alabama children receive in a given here. Through this program, SSA has identified thousands of unmet health issues that could have developed into serious and even life-threatening conditions.